Mandelbrot Metal vs Thinknode
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Mandelbrot Metal
Create stunning fractal art with real-time GPU rendering. Explore infinite detail with ultra-deep zooming, vibrant color palettes, and high-resolution exports. Perfect for artists and designers.
- Ultra-deep zooming
- 150+ handcrafted color palettes
- Custom gradient creation
- Gallery-quality exports (up to 8K)
- Real-time GPU rendering
- Wide-gamut and HDR color support
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Explore Mandelbrot and Julia fractals on your iPhone or iPad, shape them with color and light, and turn discoveries into artwork. Over 50 of our favorite Mandelbrot and Julia bookmarks are included, ready to explore from your first launch of version 3.0. Free includes five personal bookmarks in addition to the starter collection; Pro removes the personal bookmark limit. THE INFINITY ENGINE Version 3.0 brings GPU perturbation rendering to deep Mandelbrot exploration. Adaptive precision, responsive gesture previews, and center-out refinement help you keep your place as detailed views render. Depth and rendering speed are shared by Free and Pro. COLOR AND EXPLORATION Choose from 156 built-in palettes, including 55 Ultra-Wide ramps. Adjust iterations and contrast, explore the Julia set associated with a Mandelbrot point, and use Back and Forward to revisit recent creative steps. Save exact views as bookmarks and exchange bookmark files. FREE EXPLORATION Explore both fractal families with the full rendering engine and built-in palette library. Save up to five personal bookmarks and export complete PNG images at Canvas Size. PRO CREATIVE TOOLS Pro adds unlimited bookmarks, photo and custom palette tools, adjustable 3D lighting, and 4K, 6K, 8K, and custom-size PNG capture. Choose a monthly subscription, annual subscription, or one-time Lifetime purchase. PREVIOUS OWNERS Verified owners who first acquired the app before v3 receive permanent Legacy Pro access without another purchase. Use Restore Purchases if needed. BUILT FOR IPHONE AND IPAD Device-specific controls, exploration history, portable bookmarks and palettes, and support for 16 languages. Requires iOS or iPadOS 26 or later. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the current period ends. Manage or cancel subscriptions in your App Store account settings. Prices are shown before purchase. Lifetime is a one-time purchase. Privacy: https://www.mandelbrot-metal.com/privacy-policy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Thinknode
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ThinkNode – Collaborative Mind Mapping & Concept Maps ThinkNode is a powerful, modern tool for building and sharing mind maps, concept maps, and visual knowledge structures — alone or in real time with others. Enjoy complete creative freedom on an infinite, zoomable canvas. Drag and drop nodes freely, resize them, choose shapes (circle, rectangle, rounded rectangle), pick any color, and edit text directly inside each node. Connect ideas with customizable arrows — straight or curved, single- or double-headed, solid or dashed — and add descriptive labels to connections. Collaborate seamlessly with friends, classmates, or colleagues. Multiple users can edit the same map simultaneously with live cursors, instant updates, role-based permissions (Owner, Editor, Viewer), and easy sharing via link or email invitation. Every map is automatically saved with version history. Work offline with automatic sync when you reconnect. Export your maps as high-quality PNG images or vector-ready PDFs in seconds. Key Features Infinite pannable and pinch-to-zoom canvas with optional grid background Fully customizable nodes: shapes, colors, sizes, editable text Rich arrow connections: curves, styles, labels, easy creation & deletion Real-time multiplayer editing with live presence indicators Secure sign-in and cloud storage via Firebase Auto-save, revision history, and full offline support Dark and light mode support Responsive layout optimized for phones and tablets One-tap export to PNG and PDF Whether you're a student organizing lecture notes, a professional mapping strategies, a team brainstorming projects, or anyone visualizing complex ideas — ThinkNode helps you turn thoughts into clear, beautiful, collaborative visual diagrams.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Mandelbrot Metal at Free against Thinknode's $0.99. Thinknode's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). On ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Mandelbrot Metal is free to download; Thinknode costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | Mandelbrot Metal | Thinknode |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $0.99 |
| Rating | 4.8 (28 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 28 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 6 days | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 113 MB | 48 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Michael Stebel | Connexa GmbH (CH) |
In-app purchases
Mandelbrot Metal
No in-app purchases
Thinknode
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Mandelbrot Metal free?
Is Thinknode free?
Do Mandelbrot Metal or Thinknode have ads?
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